Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The goose took some LSD. This is the egg she laid.

EDIT.... I've been told this post seem a little short and empty, I suppose that is true so I will probably add more to it later.

I haven't sewn very much lately. I find my mind seizes up, and I almost physically shy away from the thought of sewing most nights. Thankfully, it’s letting up, but I'm trying to take it slow. I tried to push myself back into a hobby I loved, and I almost ended up hating it. I don't want to do that.

I luckily, I have another hobby to keep my form going insane while I suffer my temporary insanity. Lasts year, I discovered the art of Pysanka. Clicking on the link takes you the Wikipedia write up, but for those who don’t feel like clicking, pysanka is a traditional Ukrainian art form done by drawing layers of hot wax with a tool called a kistka (or stylus) and layering dyes on an egg (either blown out or unblown), and then wiping the wax off to reveal the patterns bellow.

I got myself a a basic kit and dyes, and started playing around with it. It’s surprisingly relaxing. I’m ashamed to admit I have about 30+ dyes now. But I;’m getting my eggs for free, so I can indulge a little. :B

I really should document one egg form start to finish, the following pictures are as close as I've gotten so far.

I draw on more then one egg at a time… each egg has to thoroughly dry before the next dye bath, so it help if you have multiple eggs going at one time… and don't count on getting one done in one evening, unless it is a really simple pattern.

My early stuff was…. crude. Now that I've gotten better, I've started selling some of my work here and there on Etsy. The hobby (just barely) pays for itself right now, which is all I can really ask for.

My designs are not really traditional pysanky designs, so that technically makes them batik eggs (I’m a little fuzzy there)

There are some really mind numbingly good artiest out there, here are the web site of some of the artiest I stalk….. er, admire.